Leviticus 15

Leviticus 15New Living Translation (NLT)

Bodily Discharges

15 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,2 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.

“Any man who has a bodily discharge is ceremonially unclean.3 This defilement is caused by his discharge, whether the discharge continues or stops. In either case the man is unclean.4 Any bed on which the man with the discharge lies and anything on which he sits will be ceremonially unclean.5 So if you touch the man’s bed, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.6 If you sit where the man with the discharge has sat, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.7 If you touch the man with the discharge, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.8 If the man spits on you, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.9 Any saddle blanket on which the man rides will be ceremonially unclean.10 If you touch anything that was under the man, you will be unclean until evening. You must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.11 If the man touches you without first rinsing his hands, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.12 Any clay pot the man touches must be broken, and any wooden utensil he touches must be rinsed with water.

13 “When the man with the discharge is healed, he must count off seven days for the period of purification. Then he must wash his clothes and bathe himself in fresh water, and he will be ceremonially clean.14 On the eighth day he must get two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle[a] and give his offerings to the priest.15 The priest will offer one bird for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. Through this process, the priest will purify[b] the man before the Lord for his discharge.

16 “Whenever a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his entire body in water, and he will remain ceremonially unclean until the next evening.[c]17 Any clothing or leather with semen on it must be washed in water, and it will remain unclean until evening.18 After a man and a woman have sexual intercourse, they must each bathe in water, and they will remain unclean until the next evening.

19 “Whenever a woman has her menstrual period, she will be ceremonially unclean for seven days. Anyone who touches her during that time will be unclean until evening.20 Anything on which the woman lies or sits during the time of her period will be unclean.21 If any of you touch her bed, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.22 If you touch any object she has sat on, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.23 This includes her bed or any other object she has sat on; you will be unclean until evening if you touch it.24 If a man has sexual intercourse with her and her blood touches him, her menstrual impurity will be transmitted to him. He will remain unclean for seven days, and any bed on which he lies will be unclean.

25 “If a woman has a flow of blood for many days that is unrelated to her menstrual period, or if the blood continues beyond the normal period, she is ceremonially unclean. As during her menstrual period, the woman will be unclean as long as the discharge continues.26 Any bed she lies on and any object she sits on during that time will be unclean, just as during her normal menstrual period.27 If any of you touch these things, you will be ceremonially unclean. You must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.

28 “When the woman’s bleeding stops, she must count off seven days. Then she will be ceremonially clean.29 On the eighth day she must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons and present them to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle.30 The priest will offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. Through this process, the priest will purify her before the Lord for the ceremonial impurity caused by her bleeding.

31 “This is how you will guard the people of Israel from ceremonial uncleanness. Otherwise they would die, for their impurity would defile my Tabernacle that stands among them.32 These are the instructions for dealing with anyone who has a bodily discharge—a man who is unclean because of an emission of semen33 or a woman during her menstrual period. It applies to any man or woman who has a bodily discharge, and to a man who has sexual intercourse with a woman who is ceremonially unclean.”

Leviticus 15New International Version (NIV)

Discharges Causing Uncleanness

15 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any man has an unusual bodily discharge, such a discharge is unclean.3 Whether it continues flowing from his body or is blocked, it will make him unclean. This is how his discharge will bring about uncleanness:

4 “‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be unclean.5 Anyone who touches his bed must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.6 Whoever sits on anything that the man with a discharge sat on must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

7 “‘Whoever touches the man who has a discharge must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

8 “‘If the man with the discharge spits on anyone who is clean, they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

9 “‘Everything the man sits on when riding will be unclean,10 and whoever touches any of the things that were under him will be unclean till evening; whoever picks up those things must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

11 “‘Anyone the man with a discharge touches without rinsing his hands with water must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

12 “‘A clay pot that the man touches must be broken, and any wooden article is to be rinsed with water.

13 “‘When a man is cleansed from his discharge, he is to count off seven days for his ceremonial cleansing; he must wash his clothes and bathe himself with fresh water, and he will be clean.14 On the eighth day he must take two doves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance to the tent of meeting and give them to the priest.15 The priest is to sacrifice them, the one for a sin offering[a] and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement before the Lord for the man because of his discharge.

16 “‘When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean till evening.17 Any clothing or leather that has semen on it must be washed with water, and it will be unclean till evening.18 When a man has sexual relations with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both of them must bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

19 “‘When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening.

20 “‘Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean.21 Anyone who touches her bed will be unclean; they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.22 Anyone who touches anything she sits on will be unclean; they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.23 Whether it is the bed or anything she was sitting on, when anyone touches it, they will be unclean till evening.

24 “‘If a man has sexual relations with her and her monthly flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days; any bed he lies on will be unclean.

25 “‘When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period.26 Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period, and anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her period.27 Anyone who touches them will be unclean; they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

28 “‘When she is cleansed from her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean.29 On the eighth day she must take two doves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting.30 The priest is to sacrifice one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement for her before the Lord for the uncleanness of her discharge.

31 “‘You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place,[b] which is among them.’”

32 These are the regulations for a man with a discharge, for anyone made unclean by an emission of semen,33 for a woman in her monthly period, for a man or a woman with a discharge, and for a man who has sexual relations with a woman who is ceremonially unclean.

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